


Dog Days

by antiquitea



Series: Merry Happy [2]
Category: Silicon Valley (TV)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-09
Updated: 2017-10-09
Packaged: 2019-01-10 23:02:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12309705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/antiquitea/pseuds/antiquitea
Summary: Richard is greeted by the sight of Jared sitting cross-legged on the floor, a ball of fur furiously squirming in his lap.It’s a puppy. Jared brought home a puppy.





	Dog Days

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't mean for this to become a series or a thing, but perhaps this will become my palette cleanser after writing the particularly angst-ridden things that I tend to lean toward. More notes at the end.
> 
> Also, I could not get the mental image of these two acquiring a puppy out of my head. So, there's that.

Richard is working in the room that serves as his and Jared’s office one evening when he hears the front door open. It’s Jared, of course, and as soon as Richard finishes this equation on his whiteboard he’ll go out to greet him. He can hear the familiar sounds of Jared shouldering his bag off onto the floor, toeing his shoes off, but it’s another set of noises that has Richard craning his neck, stopping mid writing.

Quick, successive scratches against the hardwood floor, along with Jared speaking low, practically cooing. Richard’s never heard him speak like that before, and momentarily feels a pang of jealousy in his heart which he recognizes as being so incredibly foolish.

He puts the cap on the marker and sets it down, slowly shuffling out of the office and looking down the hallway, before making his way down it toward the front room.

Richard is greeted by the sight of Jared sitting cross-legged on the floor, a ball of fur furiously squirming in his lap.

It’s a puppy. Jared brought home a puppy.

Richard wrings his hands together, just as Jared looks up at him, both beaming and looking incredibly apologetic.

“I’m sorry,” are the first words out of his mouth, and Richard finds that ridiculous because who should apologize for bringing home a puppy? “I know we haven’t discussed this, but there was a man on the street just selling them for a dollar, and I know I should’ve just taken them to a shelter, but -”

“Jared,” Richard says, interrupting his boyfriend’s string of words. “Jared. It’s fine. I like dogs.”

“They’re quite a lot of responsibility,” Jared says, as the puppy flops onto her back and nibbles at his fingers. “Do you think we’re ready?”

Richard doesn’t respond right away, but instead kneels down next to Jared on the floor. He wishes that Jared would never look at him that way again - so unsure, almost so frightened. What is he expecting Richard to do, how is he expecting Richard to react? Richard knows that it’s not him that Jared is fearful of (though he thinks that sometimes he should be), but a lifetime of being treated as less than, of being taken advantage of.

He reaches out and runs his fingers through Jared’s hair, before leaning in and kissing him softly. Jared all but melts against his lips, and Richard sighs audibly before pulling away.

The puppy in Jared’s lap yips, demanding attention, and Jared chuckles and glances back down at her, Richard following suit.

“What kind of dog is she?” he asks, reaching out and scratching behind her ears.

“A marvellous mutt,” Jared responds, because of course she is and of course that is what he would call her. “Though I think she might be some manner of husky mix. She’s very fluffy.”

Jared picks the dog up and deposits her onto Richard’s lap, and to say that she goes nuts is an understatement. She wriggles her little body all around, tail wagging, sharp puppy teeth nipping at Richard’s knee. He smiles as he pets her, then looks up at Jared.

“What are we going to call her then?”

.     .     .

They call her Henrietta, though they end up calling her Henry for short. Jared read in one of the many puppy books that he went out and bought hours after he brought her home that it’s best to give dogs two syllable names. Richard says that they can call her something else, but Jared insists that she looks like a Henry.

She seems to have no objection to the name.

Henry is very tiny, probably a little too young to be away from her mother, though when they take her to vet she says that she’s nine weeks old, just very small, probably the runt of the litter.

They take her to the pet store and buy all the sorts of things that you buy for a puppy; a leash, a collar for which they print off a tag for her (that of course reads “Henry”), a soft bed, a crate, some toys which they let her pick out, some dishes, and other odds and ends that Richard hadn’t even considered until the salesperson asked if they’d picked it up already.

(“What the hell is a Furbo?”

“It’s a camera that lets you give your dog treats.”

“Why would we - yeah, sure. We’ll get it.”)

Henry already has them both wrapped around her little puppy paws. Richard recalls there being a family dog when he was a little boy, but he passed away when Richard was about four years old, so his memories of the dog (named Tucker) are spotty at best. Jared, very obviously, has never had a pet before, and Richard finds it incredibly endearing to watch the two of them interact.

Richard is sitting on the couch, coding on his laptop, though he finds it difficult to do when Jared is sprawled out on the floor, playing with Henry and letting her crawl all over him with boundless, endless energy. Though she flops onto the floor and naps quite often. Richard assures Jared that’s normal because she’s just a puppy, and puppies need lots of sleep, though it doesn’t stop Jared from pacing and typing it into Hooli Search.

.     .     .

Jared insists that they make Henry sleep in her crate at nights, and even Richard finds that particularly cruel, wringing his hands as Jared explains that it’ll be good for her, to have her own space where she can go. Some place where she’ll feel safe.

That lasts about an hour, of which they spend laying wide awake in bed, listening to her cry and whimper.

Henry squirms on the bed in between them, seemingly intent on playing, though Jared eventually manages to calm her by scratching her behind her ears. She falls asleep quickly, letting out soft, puppy snores.

Watching Jared’s long fingers continue to pet her, even as he begins to fall asleep himself, Richard can’t help the tears that well in his eyes. It’s too fucking cute.

.     .     .

Jared creates an Instagram account specifically for posting pictures of Henry (@henrythehuskymix), and has her pose near a chalkboard on which he scrawls how old she is with remarkably beautiful penmanship.

She acquires more followers than the both of them, and gets featured on some pretty popular dog related Instagram accounts.

Richard didn’t know that there was such a thing.

.     .     .

Despite how busy they both are, Richard is kind of mystified at how easily Henry fits into their lives. She’s not a very demanding puppy, and though they obviously make time to play with her, take her for walks, train her, she’s also quite content to curl up at Richard’s feet as he works, leaning down to occasionally scratch behind her ears.

They take her into the Pied Piper offices some days, Jared quite literally putting her into his bag and letting her poke her head out. She is by far more popular than the CEO, who would take it rather personally if he didn’t think that she was far cuter and well behaved than he was.

She grows remarkably quickly, as puppies tend to, and Jared frets that she’s growing up to too fast, where is their puppy going.

Richard doesn’t think that he could be more in love with either of them.

.     .     .

“It feels like we’re quite the little family unit, doesn’t it?” Jared muses one lazy morning, as they all lie on the couch together.

Henry is sleeping on his chest, curled into herself, tongue darting out to lick at nothing. Richard is sprawled against him, his head on Jared’s bony hip, hand splayed over Jared’s thigh. It probably shouldn’t be comfortable, but it is. The statement makes Richard lift his head to look up at Jared, who looks like he’s ready to be admonished.

“I’m sorry,” he says quickly. “That was. That was quite a strange thing to say. We’re not a family.”

“Why wouldn’t we be?” Richard asked, furrowing his brow. “You and I, we’re together, and we have this small creature that we’re taking care of. I think that constitutes a family.”

He’d never quite thought of being a “family” before. Richard supposes that he and Jared, they’re a family, they have been for quite some time. What makes a family anyway? Who says it’s two parents with two point five children? Why can’t it be the CEO and his head of Business Development and their ridiculously cute puppy?

“You’re right. We _are_ quite the little family unit,” Richard says, smiling down at Jared, before leaning down and kissing him.

“Richard,” Jared says, grin stretching from ear to ear, bright blue eyes alight. “I’ve never really had a family before.”

And to that, Richard doesn’t know what to say. How dare the universe deny Jared such a simple comfort as a family. Sure, his own is decent and he loves them, but everyone deserves a family. Especially Jared. Richard knows enough about Jared’s past to not think too hard about any particular aspect of it. Jared seems to have gotten over most things, Richard should as well. He tries not to think about any of it too much.

But even still. When Jared says things like that, that he’s never had a family before, Richard feels angry as he does protective. He wants to give Jared everything. He doesn’t want Jared to want for a single damn thing in his life ever again. Richard doesn’t think he’s entirely qualified, entirely capable of being the one to give Jared those things, the life that he deserves, but damn if he isn’t intent on trying.

“Well, now you do.”

**Author's Note:**

> for the record, henry looks like [this](https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/bowwowtimes-new/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Golden.jpg).
> 
> follow me on [tumblr](http://antiquitea.tumblr.com) where i yell in my tags a lot about how angry attractive boys make me.


End file.
